image + text : Ceci EbitzWhat do we think of when we hear the word "bunker"? Underground shelter from the impending apocalypse? A defensive military compartment? A hole in the ground?

Our "bunker" is an experimental art space. The "bunker" was a pet-name for the underground 3-room studio space Jessie Rommelt, Anna Brewer and Abbigael Beddall shared from 2011-2012. The close quarters of this subterranean apartment (too small to host an actual live-in resident) encouraged a communal workshop vibe. Cramped together, we worked on our individual projects--sewing, filming, painting, drawing, exchanging ideas and critiques, and helping one another out as needed. In addition to a purple mummy with glowing teeth, the original BUNKER space produced a strong desire to continue the collaborative energy.

In December 2012 we found the current site, 5106 Penn Avenue. Abstractly, we had envisioned an experimental gallery for multi-disciplinary artists, but the layout and size of the space allowed us to think bigger. Soon the residency concept emerged. Through the first few months of planning we focused more on the structure and less on the branding. Over time the name, BUNKER, stuck.

Though the word may not inspire feelings of community and creativity for some folks I have come to reinterpret “bunker” as a fitting moniker for our project. A bunker is an intentional space-- specifically designed to function efficiently for its user. Fittingly, our BUNKER will be an intentional space for artists-- designed to meet the live/ work needs of its residents.

Thinking back to it's more dramatic undertones, Abbigael recently proposed that our BUNKER could, indeed, be a place to prepare for the impending apocalypse. Our apocalypse is not an Earth’s-over deal though-- we imagine it as more of an artistic rebirth. A revolutionary move away from traditional art-making and the sterile gallery scene. In our BUNKER artists will create in a space separate from the expectations and limitations of the outside world.

Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXcA99xGHwQ for the instructional video that we watched before making Bunker's garden. The maker of the video let time prep his bales by leaving them to rot through the winter. This is not necessary though–if you keep the bales soaked for about twelve consecutive days then the straw should be ready for planting. At BUNKER we lucked out with a particularly rainy couple of weeks, which we supplemented with the collected runoff in our rain barrel.

BLOOM BLOOM made by Dana Lynn Harper was the showpiece installation at BUNKER Projects Presents Benefit Exhibition in April 2013. Below is an interview with the artist, Dana [Interviewer: Jessie Rommelt].

JR: This piece was shown in your MFA thesis exhibition in February 2013. Tell us briefly about your journey through grad school and how you arrived at BLOOM BLOOM.

DLH: Graduate school felt like a dream. As soon as I got started, I was finished. Before graduate school I had been making work out of my tiny bedroom, I didn't show my work, I didn't talk about my work, I just made it. Graduate school was heaven, people listened to me, they cared about what I made and why. I was forced to consider what was truly important to me. I wanted to focus on joy, bliss and the sublime. Not because I felt that women's issues were no longer important but because focusing on a deliverance out of suffrage allowed me to maintain my own happiness. Celebrating the self and the connection with another is an alternate way to address and express ideas of feminism. I began making genderless pairs of fantastic creatures that were made together, for each other. These pairs of newly invented animals adored one another, celebrating the moment of a first meeting, a first touch, taste and site. I wanted to not only solidify and celebrate this moment of discovery and fulfillment but give this magic to the viewer. The sculptures transformed into full environments, the first being BLOOM BLOOM. These new places are seen as a stage for people to enjoy themselves and each other, to celebrate the here and now; allowing the outside world to melt away and the internal world to grow and connect to another.

JR: Thinking about a sculptural work like BLOOM BLOOM as a stage is very different than static forms of viewership. People are most likely experiencing this piece while literally in motion or listening to live bands, quite a delightful set of stimuli.

JR: We know this piece has already manifested in two spaces, and I must say it's ability to be transported and installed was most impressive. I can state from experience that works of art are rarely as hardy as this one!So what's in store for BLOOM BLOOM?

Will we be seeing it hovering above any joyful crowds in the near future? ( I feel as if we are talking about a young pop star's tour schedule)

DLH: It does feel like a traveling circus or like I'm going on a musical tour, which has always been a secret dream of mine. I have spent the last two months coming up with a schedule of events/festivals that BLOOM BLOOM will attend. The first festival is coming up at the end of June, Electric Forest. The next is a show in Philly at Crane Arts called Novis Oculi, where it will be shown for 3 weeks in the month of July. After that, Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Electric Zoo in Brooklyn and Pink Moon Festival in West Virginia. I am constantly searching for new places to go, trying to build this lifestyle little by little.

JR: Thanks Dana for sharing your thoughts and plans for the piece with us and keep us updated with images of the piece installed in the future!